Around the Bookish World: News Week-in-Review

Filed in News , The Smutty Lover Posted on February 11, 2011 @ 1:00 pm 18 comments
Wow this week has been pretty major with surprising book news, Author CAPSLOCKFESTOS and meltdowns and covers galore – so no further ado let me layout these babies!
(Note: Due to breaking news about another brouhaha with another author gone mad – Book Lovers Inc is going to dedicate an entire post on this- this post canna take all the drama Cap’n)
Earlier this week the author, L.J Smith who is behind the successful YA books, The Vampire Diaries has announced that she wont be writing future books in the series because she does not agree to the new direction that the new series is heading. Alloy Entertainment who have creative control over the series as well as the rights will be concentrating on the relationship with Elena and Stefan instead of Damon. Smith has said she was deeply saddened but disagrees with anyone boycotting the series but seeing the reaction on twitter I think this will anger and upset a few fans about this new move. Even more surprising is that I did not realise that Smith didn’t have creative control/rights to her own rights and was part of a book package company.
In great news that especially heralds a huge milestone for e-publishing and Maya Banks – Dear Author and peeps including Maya have stated that Coulter’s Lady from Samhain has reached number 18 in the USA list and the NY Times Bestseller list. (the first ever digital book ever to enter the main charts) – Congrats to Maya and to Samhain!!!!!

Another milestone in digital publishing and one that is just beyond successful is that of self published YA author, Amanda Hocking whose books have sold over 400,000 copies alone last month and has made her debut in the USA top 50.

Another interesting tidbit of news about the strength of internet marketing and books, The Book Depository has reported a 70% growth during the past year. Kieron Smith the Managing Director of the Book Depository has stated that its partially due to online bloggers who use the site for giveaways and competitions that have help boost their profits. I find this really interesting in two counts, that this is a sign of bloggers’ word mouth and the growth of their influence in the blogosphere and that amazon is losing ground to The Book Depository for not concentrating enough on print books. And if a few bloggers are like me – I have definitely become a full convert to this site due to giveaways and personal books.

Charlaine Harris has stated in an LA Times interview that she may be tying up the Sookie Stackhouse series. Book 11, Dead Reckoning is out this May, and she is contracted for two more after this release. She is also behind a new computer game linked to the series – Dying for Daylight for more info about this and tidbits about True Blood check the linky link

Stephanie Meyer’s The Host will be made into a movie and HAZ a director. Sadly there wont be any pouting lip gloss wearing vampires who sparkle in the sunlight but will focus on a world where alien souls have overtake and resides in human minds. Susanna White will helm the wheel although no other casting details has been release but I am really looking forward to this adaptation because I think I am more of a fan of The Host than Twilight.

We also have gorgeous covers from long awaited books.

First up and I CANT WAIT for this book, Aftermath by Ann Aguirre has been posted. Doesn’t Jax look like swashbuckling pirate here?

DEAD HEROES GET MONUMENTS. LIVE ONES GET TRIALS.

Sirantha Jax has the right genes—ones that enable her to “jump” faster-than-light ships through grimspace. But it’s also in her genetic makeup to go it alone. It’s a character trait that has gotten her into—and out of—hot water time and time again, but now she’s caused one of the most horrific events in military history…
During the war against murderous, flesh-eating aliens, Sirantha went AWOL and shifted grimspace beacons to keep the enemy from invading humanity’s homeworld. The cost of her actions: the destruction of modern interstellar travel—and the lives of six hundred Conglomerate soldiers.
Accused of dereliction of duty, desertion, mass murder, and high treason, Sirantha is on trial for her life. And only time will tell if she’s one of the Conglomerate’s greatest heroes—or most infamous

Maya Banks has also unveiled her Highlander romance trilogy –

Maya’s beguiling new trilogy features three unforgettable brothers risking everything to save their clan and their legacy—and surrender their hearts to love.

Ewan McCabe, the eldest, is a warrior determined to vanquish his enemy. Now, with the time ripe for battle, his men are ready and Ewan is poised to take back what is his—until a blue-eyed, raven-haired temptress is thrust upon him. Mairin may be the salvation of Ewan’s clan, but for a man who dreams only of revenge, matters of the heart are strange territory to conquer.

Though the illegitimate daughter of the king, Mairin possesses prized property that has made her a pawn—and wary of love. Her worst fears are realized when she is rescued from peril, only to be forced into marriage by her charismatic and commanding savior, Ewan McCabe. But her attraction to her ruggedly powerful new husband finds her craving his surprisingly tender touch; her body comes alive under his sensual mastery. And as war draws near, Mairin’s strength, spirit, and passion challenge Ewan to conquer his demons—and embrace a love that means more than revenge and land.

Seduction of a Highland Lass

Highlander Series, Book 2

A warrior is caught between family loyalty and forbidden love in book two of Maya’s sensual new trilogy featuring three indomitable Highlanders.

Fiercely loyal to his elder brother, Alaric McCabe leads his clan in the fight for their birthright. Now, he is prepared to wed for duty, as well. But on his way to claim the hand of Rionna McDonald, daughter of a neighboring chieftain, he is ambushed and left for dead. Miraculously, his life is saved by the soft touch of a Highland angel, a courageous beauty who will put his fealty to his clan, his honor, and his deepest desires, to the test.

An outcast from her own clan, Keeley McDonald was betrayed by those she loved and trusted. When the wounded warrior falls from his horse, she is drawn to his strong, lean body. The wicked glint in his green eyes ignites a passion that will follow them back to Alaric’s keep, where their forbidden love draws them deeper into the pleasures of the flesh. But as conspiracy and danger circle closer, Alaric must make an impossible choice. Will he betray his blood ties for the woman he loves?

Never Love a Highlander
Highlander Series, Book 3

In a tale of strong ties and true love, Maya’s trilogy comes to its stunning conclusion, as the youngest McCabe brother uses sword and seduction to save his clan—and seal his heart.

Caelen McCabe’s young, reckless heart nearly destroyed his clan. Now putting family loyalty above all else, he steps up to marry his older brother’s jilted bride and salvage the uneasy alliance between two clans. While beautiful Rionna McDonald is a fit wife for any man, Caelen trusts no woman, especially not this sweet temptress who torments him with white hot longing.

As the sacrificial lamb in her father’s power game, Rionna will do her duty but protect her heart and her pride from another man’s humiliation. Despite everything, the heat in Caelen’s touch melts her defenses and she craves the sensual delights of a husband who guards his emotions as fiercely as his clan. But when the ultimate battle for the McCabe legacy is upon them, Rionna’s true warrior spirit emerges. She will risk the wrath of her father, the fury of her enemies, and her life to prove to Caelen that his wife’s love is too precious to lose.

And finally – Angels of Darkness which features stories from Ilona Andrews (Alpha Men debut novella), Nalini Singh (Guild Hunter story), Sharon Shinn (Angel story) and Meljean Brook (Guardian series).

And finally – Shiloh Walker has highlighted, the plight for Marrion P’Udongo, a minister in the Congo who has helped and saved a lot of lives. I can’t summarised this as well as she has so I am going to liberally copy and paste what she has posted at her blog here.

In 2003, he hid 70 people in his house as the militia tore the town apart. He could have been killed for what he did…but he did it anyway.

He has reached out to the child soldiers in the Congo, trying to give them the chance to bechildren…not child soldiers, but children.
He’s a voice for the numerous women and girls who are raped in the eastern Congo. He works with orphanages that care for the children who’ve lost their parents in the war.
He’s a husband. He’s a father. He’s a hero.

He’s also dying. He was recently diagnosed with acute renal failure and he needs a transplant. You can imagine they probably don’t have the sort of resources in the Congo that might be found in other countries.
While the loss of any life is tragic, this man is a hero who has touched countless lives in that bit of the world-and you rarely hear much about the devastation there, the horrors, the tragedies. Wars have raged there for years. Yet all we hear is a blip every now and then.
Children living as soldiers. Families slaughtered. Women and girls are endlessly raped, their abusers never brought to justice. This man is one of the few that will speak for them. And if he dies…will there be another to take his place?

Some of the pastor’s friends are trying to raise money via indiegogo to pay for the transplant and time is running out. I made a donation but I want to do more. Romanceland has rallied behind communities devastated by hurricanes and it’s rallied behind the black-footed ferret…maybe we can do something to help this amazing man. This is a small something, but everything starts small, right?

To find out more and to win a prize as part of contributing to this cause please check out Shiloh’s post
 and for more info about indiegogo check here

I think I am going to leave Snoop Dogg sing/rap Oh Sookie – I think we need some fun chillout shizzles to close the week! Enjoy!

What do you think about the ebook invasion on the bestseller lists?
Do you think The Book Depository will kick Amazon off the book seller throne?

About Caro The HEA Lover


Caroline is a HEA loving, yarn addicted French who's desperately hoping to get a HEA of her own. If she's not reading then she can be found knitting while listening to Audiobooks or watching Tv shows. Her secret addiction is reading websites that make fun at other people's expense (DYAC, Failbook)! Caroline also blogs at the Secret HEA Society with Susi.

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18 Comments

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  • Blodeuedd February 11, 2011 at 1:10 pm

    Bookdepo is gonna kick Amazon's ass 😉 Why order from Amazon when Bookdepo is cheap and best of all, no extra costs when they send the books.

    On another note…need those Maya Banks books

  • pattepoilue February 11, 2011 at 1:16 pm

    @Blodeuedd I agree, unless Amazon starts having free shipping. It's already the case in France, free shipping for books. The only problem is that they don't have the new releases very fast lol .
    But yeah Book Depo is fantastic, cheap cheap books AND often out before the release *g*

  • Alisha (MyNeedToRead) February 11, 2011 at 1:18 pm

    What makes BookDepo so damn great is that it's focus is on opening the world to book readers. Waiting for a book to be released in your country? No prob, Book Depository's got your back! ^_^ And I LOVE how they recognize the impact that book bloggers have made. Way to give credit where it's due! Yay! ^_^

    It's so great to see all this good news for various authors. May they continue the trend of success.

    OH, and I won't even start on the upcoming releases. Basically, I want them ALL. Most especially the Angels of Darkness anthology.

  • Has February 11, 2011 at 1:47 pm

    I think this is why the book depos is getting more popular. They CATER to readers and books. Amazon is too busy trying to take over the world and the past year or so their service for books suck. I love the Book Depos and even though I am primarily an ebook lover – I have bought ebooks and will buy most of print via them. I also love the early shipping! 😀
    *secretly hoping they will do the same for River Marked and other orders – obsessively checking all the time LOL *

  • Sabrina February 11, 2011 at 2:56 pm

    The nighties on the covers of the Maya Bank's books drive me crazy. They look so modern and definitely not suitable for a historical romance.
    However I love the covers of "Aftermath" and "Angels of Darkness".

  • GeishasMom73 February 11, 2011 at 3:20 pm

    I feel terrible for L.J. Smith. I didn't know the rights belonged to the company and not her. I hope this will be a warning to other authors to maintain the rights to their stories/characters.

    I think Maya Banks must be on cloud 9. Good for her! She is having a stellar week. Love the new covers for her trilogy. I know the heroes are all brothers but it looks like they used the same male model for all three covers. Maybe I have bad eyesight but they look like the same dude to me! LOL

    I have commented on Shiloh Walker's blog and I encourage everyone else to do the same. It is for a great cause.

    Have a great weekend everyone!

    Stacie
    GeishasMom73 on twitter

  • draconismoi February 11, 2011 at 3:37 pm

    Most definitely. The free shipping worldwide thing will get people into The Book Depository….and the lack of high-handed censorship will keep them there.

    At least that's how it worked with me.

  • Estella February 11, 2011 at 3:46 pm

    I think it's wonderful that ebooks have hit the bestseller lists.
    Book Depository is going to best Amazon because you don't have to purchase $25 worth of books to get free shipping.

  • Chelsea B. February 11, 2011 at 3:51 pm

    Wow definitely some interesting stuff…. the Smith thing was definitely suprising. And I've never read the Sookie books, but I know a lot of people will be sad when the series ends.

  • Sarah February 11, 2011 at 5:01 pm

    Lots of interesting news! Don't know if Book Depository can surpass Amazon but I hope it does!

    smaccall @ comcast.net

  • Jenny N. February 11, 2011 at 5:58 pm

    I hardly ever order from amazon anymore unless I have a giftcard to specd there.

  • Sheree February 11, 2011 at 6:21 pm

    I was squeeing so loudly when Maya Banks revealed her book covers; all three have my favorite cover model Paul Marron on them!

    As for Amazon, I don't buy that many books from them but I do buy lots of other stuff.

  • Sheree February 11, 2011 at 6:23 pm

    @GeishasMom73, not only it's the same guy on all three Maya Banks covers (Paul Marron), but it's the same woman on the first two!

  • Mikki-Manó February 12, 2011 at 10:03 am

    Wow, lots of great books, thank you for posting.

  • GeishasMom73 February 12, 2011 at 4:44 pm

    Thank you Sheree I was starting to think I was seeing things! LOL

  • Has February 13, 2011 at 5:24 am

    I actually thought the highlander romances was contemporaries as well until I read the synopsis 😀

    But I am looking forward to those. But I am def def def looking forward to Aftermath – wantz!!!

  • Ina February 14, 2011 at 11:21 am

    to be honest I buy my books entirely by Book Depo because they are cheap and have free shipping and I love their service 🙂
    and for books ordered at Amazon I had to wait as long as for those ordered at Book Depo – that's so not fun…

  • natalie23 February 25, 2011 at 7:43 am

    I have one of Amanda Hockings books, but I haven't gotten around to reading it yet.
    I get quite a lot of my books from the book depository, I just wish thier ebook section was easier to navigate.
    No more Sookie? Well I guess the series can't go on forever.
    I must remember to read the Sirantha Jax books, I keep forgetting.
    Angels of Darkness cover is very pretty.

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